Rey is not happy with the predicament she finds herself in, but she can handle it. If she can handle Jakku and Darth Sidious, she can handle anything.
She defaults to what she knows to cope: distance. Darth Plagueis' unctuous old servant keeps calling her 'my Lady' as he presses for her to move into a beautiful guest bedroom in the villa. She resists. Rey announces that she will be sleeping and eating on the Falcon parked on the landing platform. She doesn't trust Darth Plagueis or his creepy attendants who remind her of the arena spectators on Exogol. The servant Vanee is aghast at her refusal. And perhaps she was a bit churlish when she declined his Master's hospitality. But she is a survivor who learned long ago not to take chances. She will rest much easier in the familiar bunk on the Falcon where she is seconds away from takeoff and escape.
Darth Plagueis wisely does not attempt to countermand her wishes. But he registers his quiet censure when she marches into the villa first thing in the morning and finds him instead of Ben. "Good morning, Daughter. We missed you at breakfast."
She nods curtly. "I ate on the ship. Where's Ben?"
"Vanee is giving Lord Ren a checkup before he leaves for Coruscant on an errand for me. Our patient is improving slowly. Conventional medicine is effective, but not as effective as your talents."
Rey ignores the deep-set lined eyes that slant her way and the unspoken criticism they convey.
"All things considered, Lord Ren is doing remarkably well," the Sith Master continues smoothly. "Normally, subjects require six weeks or more after they are revived to regain full strength. But since Lord Ren is so young, hale, and hearty, he is rebounding very rapidly. But for his injuries, he might be almost back to normal already."
The creepy Muun now pointedly looks her way. Then he waits expectantly.
"I'm not healing him." Rey hopes her firm tone will close the topic and also quell any requests from Plagueis that she heal him instead. For truthfully, the one most in need of Force healing is this mangled Muun who looks like he should be dead.
But if Darth Plagueis wants to argue the point, it doesn't show. He just keeps talking in that easy, conversational way of his that belies the seriousness of the subject matter. This man talks about the Force with the same casual manner others discuss the weather. "Healing is a good skill," he muses, looking thoughtful. "The old Jedi Order had very proficient healers who made it their lives' work. They were known to help cases judged to be beyond the reach of modern medicine. They were considered to be miracle workers by many laymen." He adds, "I knew of a witch who could heal once. She did more than heal a broken body—she healed a broken mind as well. It was simply astounding," he recalls aloud.
Whatever. Rey's not impressed by any of this. And witches aren't real anyway.
"Yes, healing is a good skill. Daughter, you should practice and develop it. See what in time you can accomplish."
"I'm not healing him," she repeats. She will not be guilted or goaded into rekindling her bond with Ben so that this crafty old recluse can drain the power of their dyad for himself.
Plagueis regards her now like she's a petulant child. "Is this payback for your books?"
"In part."
"You did not need those books."
"They were not yours to destroy!" she hisses.
He answers calmly. "I did it to protect you. In time, I hope you will come to realize that."
His eyes flit over her frame, lingering on the repaired Skywalker saber conspicuously hung at her waist. Plagueis looks for a moment as if he will comment on it, but then he thinks otherwise. He pivots to something else. "May I tell you the story of the last Jedi?" he begins. "It's a story you only know in part."
"Luke is dead. There's no need to disrespect his memory," she huffs.
Plagueis pretends not to hear. "Luke Skywalker was a young man stolen at birth and secreted away to a far corner of the galaxy. There he remained safely anonymous for his entire childhood. The boy was watched over from afar by a Sith Lord in exile. Yours truly," the old Master smiles coyly. "He was also watched over by a local Jedi guardian. Kenobi mistakenly thought he was protecting the boy from his father. But the risk of discovery was not from the father who would gladly have welcomed his lost boy home. It was from the father's Sith Master who feared two Skywalkers allied against him." Plagueis looks to her. "Do you know why?"
Isn't it obvious? "Darth Vader wanted to rule the galaxy with his son."
"Lord Vader was already administering much of the Empire. Lord Sidious had grown bored of the task and was devoting his efforts elsewhere. His particular interests were cloning and Force transfer, which are why he survives to this day. But I digress. Why did Lord Sidious fear the alliance of two Skywalkers?"
Rey dutifully guesses this guy's favorite topic: "Because they could balance the Force and depose him." It's what she and Ben are hoping to do.
"Yessss," Plagueis hisses his approval. "Lord Vader had destroyed the Jedi Order in the Purge. All that was left to do to sweep away the past was to kill his hated Master and destroy the Sith. You see, Anakin Skywalker was the Force incarnate. He was both the Jedi prophet Chosen One, who could destroy the Sith and bring balance the Force, and the legendary Dark Lord Sith'ari, who is foretold to destroy the Sith in order to save them. Whether Lord Vader consciously knew it or not, his role was to end both religions from within."
"But he failed . . . he died," she protests Plagueis' version of history.
"Uhmmm yes . . . it was quite a blow for me at the time," the old man sighs. "In the end, Sheev Palpatine lived and Luke Skywalker attempted to restart the Jedi Order. The battlelines were drawn again between the Jedi and the Sith. It prolonged the conflict for another two generations. Worst of all, it meant Lord Vader's sacrifice meant nothing. All my worst fears had come true."
Plagueis blames Luke Skywalker, naturally. "It was all due to the stubborn son I protected for so long on Tatoooine." The old Sith gripes, "We tried. Force knows, we tried, Lord Vader and I. But Luke could not be convinced to trust us. He feared his father. He feared becoming his father. He also feared his father's ideas."
"Vader was a Sith Lord," she points out the obvious reason for the rift.
Plagueis gives her an 'oh please' look. "Lord Vader was a Sith in name only. The man was terribly conflicted. Full of altruism and ambition, determined to use Dark means for his Light objectives. Daughter, don't believe how the history books depict Darth Vader. They are not true to the complexity of the man. He was a longtime moderating voice within the Empire. Few outside the inner circle knew it, unfortunately. And they didn't live to divulge the secret."
"You must also understand that the Empire was a natural outgrowth of the Old Republic. After the Clone Wars ended, the Empire was the sole source of legitimate authority, law, and order. While many in your generation know the Empire as the bad guys, most of the galaxy back then thought they were the good guys. Sheev Palpatine had saved everyone from the Separatist droid army and the rebel Confederate systems. So, if he erred on the side of crackdowns, that was understandable to many who had lived through a bloody civil war and had no wish to repeat it. Context, my dear Daughter, is everything in history."
"Why are you telling me this?" she grumbles.
"Because you're the new Luke Skywalker. The young hero hellbent on recreating the past . . . the arrogant idealist who wants to make fairytales come true . . . the stubborn ideologue who stands in the way of progress."
Rey says nothing. She just glares at her host.
"When confronted with his father—a fully trained Jedi Knight of the old tradition—Luke Skywalker thought he knew better. He dismissed his father's experiences and wisdom and took refuge in accusations."
"Does that surprise you?" Rey defends her childhood hero who admittedly was a big letdown in real life. "Vader hunted down and murdered the Jedi."
Plagueis has a different gloss on those events. "Like every powerful Force user, Lord Vader was an agent of change. The Force worked its aims through his actions." The man who looks like Snoke but isn't Snoke wags a finger in front of her nose. "The Purge was as much an expression of the will of the Force as it was the culmination of the free will of two Sith Lords."
"You don't know that." Rey is very skeptical of any claim that exterminating Jedi was the will of the Force.
"Believe it," Plagueis informs her unequivocally. "Because history repeated itself a generation later when the first time didn't finish off the Jedi completely." Darth Plagueis leans close as he instructs softly, "Go ask Lord Ren what happened that night at Skywalker's temple."
"I already know what happened."
"You just think you know."
"He told me. Luke told me too."
"Then you know that night the Force chose a new champion in Lord Ren. He is the heir apparent to Lord Vader in so many ways. Another son of Darkness born conflicted, ambitious, secretly altruistic, and spectacularly petulant." Darth Plagueis adds that last bit with a wry smile. "But who am I to judge?" he shrugs. "The Force chooses who the Force chooses. And it is not an easy role to play."
The old Master now reverts back to solemn warnings again. "Daughter, heed my words, do not be Luke Skywalker. Do not allow your reverence for the past to cause you to squander the chance to kill Darth Sidious, balance the Force, and end the destructive conflict between Jedi and Sith."
"Why does the Force even allow Sidious to live?" she challenges. "If the Force was fine with killing Jedi, why doesn't it kill that Sith too?"
"The Force wants balance, and that's something we must achieve for ourselves. Step back and see the larger picture, Daughter. Sidious lives so that the rest of us must conspire for balance in order to kill him. The Force won't do our work for us," Darth Plagueis reasons, "but it will set all the right incentives in motion. It is up to us to follow through."
"I don't understand why the Force can't fix this itself," Rey grumbles.
"Because the Force grants us free will. Somewhere at the nexus of free will and fate lies the answer to the riddle of balance," the towering near-human, but not-human portends. "I implore you to let yourself be an instrument of the Force. Resist its will at your peril. The Force will forsake you if you set yourself in opposition to its aims. Hear me on that point, for I speak from experience. I learned the hard way . . . as did Luke Skywalker."
Enough of this scary lecture. She's highly skeptical that Luke Skywalker is entirely to blame for the current state of the galaxy. From her perspective, the ascendant Dark Side in the forms of Kylo Ren, Snoke, and Darth Sidious are responsible for the bloodshed. Probably this melodramatic zombie Sith in exile as well. Rey glares at her host. "I am very angry about my books."
"Yes, I know." He's unconcerned. "In time, I promise to make it up to you."
Whatever. Rey looks away, impatient to be done with this conversation. Because, like always, the scary things the zealot Darth Plagueis says have the ring of truth. It's unnerving.
"You don't trust me," he accuses softly, correctly reading the play of emotions across her face.
"Do you blame me?" she retorts.
"Not at all. But I warn you that the truth often comes from inconvenient sources. So, don't go to the Force always thinking you will be in communion with saints. Conventional morality does not apply for these matters. This idea that only the pure of heart have something to teach you is a fallacy."
She raises an eyebrow at the gall of that statement. "So I should trust the motives of the exiled Sith Master who plotted the Clone Wars and trained my enemy Darth Sidious?"
"The enemy of your enemy is your friend," the consummate Dark Side strategist points out.
She's unimpressed by this logic. Because this all smacks of revenge on this guy's old Apprentice, and that motive seems very Sith. "I'm supposed to believe you're some kind of reformed sinner? Is that it?"
Plagueis chuckles. "Still a sinner and not quite reformed," he assures her, his eyes twinkling. But he is serious again immediately. "Rey, stop rejecting problematic people out of hand. Cease all the moralizing and attempt to divine their meaning. Because good or bad, Vader happened. Like Ren happened."
"I'm not dead yet." It's Lord Ren himself limping into the room and overhearing that last comment.
"You were dead, but I remedied that problem," Plagueis flexes smugly.
Ben looks affronted for having been consigned to the past. He growls at both of them, "Don't underestimate me. I've very much alive now."
"That's the spirit, my boy," their host commends. "No sling?" he notes Ben's unbandaged shoulder.
"No sling," Ben confirms. His eyes dart her direction now. He sees the lightsaber hanging at her hip and he, unlike Plagueis, chooses to comment. "I guess it's not a moment too soon, since she came prepared to duel."
"Yes, I saw. At least she's not wearing the other contraption," Plagueis sniffs. "That's a terribly impractical weapon."
"Ugly too," Ben adds his two credits. "It makes her look like she's trying too hard."
Plagueis disagrees. "Trying too hard is a Death Star. Not a stick with a sword. If anything, she's not trying hard enough."
"It will kill you both all the same," bristling Rey threatens back. She's irritated by the two men discussing her as if she's not in the room. These Dark Side guys have condescension down to a science, she observes sourly.
Old Plagueis has the ghost of a smile about his lips as he turns to Ben. "Remind me again, what is the first lesson of the Light Side?"
Ben answers with a solemnity that verges on sarcasm, "A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack."
"Was that in her books?" Plagueis wonders.
"Presumably so. Alas, we'll never know," Ben mock laments.
"Ah well," the old Sith feigns remorse, "What's done is done. I leave it to you to teach her the basics, my Lord. See that she gets further today. It seems she failed to learn even the first lesson."
"Are you sure she's not really a Palpatine?" Ben smirks over at her belligerent stance.
"Oh, assuredly. She's much too pretty." Old Plagueis shoots a glance Ben's way as he adds, "Or didn't you notice?"
Now, it's Ben's turn to look a bit annoyed. But that exchange reminds fuming Rey of a question she's been dying to ask. Before they got sidetracked on Plagueis' version of history that makes Luke Skywalker the villain not the hero, Rey had a serious issue to address.
Turning to their host, she asks, "Who was my mother?" If she was begotten by the Force, surely she had a human mother.
Darth Plagueis the Wise claims ignorance. "My dear, I have no idea. Whoever she was, she is lost to time. But you have us. We are your family now." With that cloying sentiment, the old Sith Master sweeps regally from the room, but not before urging them both to get to work.
Rey exhales with relief. Darth Plagueis the Wise gives her the creeps. She's met two Dark Masters in her life—Snoke and Sidious—and Plagueis is nothing like either of them. Sure, Plagueis is threatening. But it's not for his violence, his Force lightning, or his Dark sorcery. It's mostly for his bizarre ideas. Moreover, Plagueis isn't threatened by her weapons or her skills. Instead, he is threatened by her books. But in the end, he seems to fear the same thing Snoke feared in her—that she represents the spirit of the Jedi. Snoke's solution was to kill her. Plagueis' solution is to convince her of a new creed. Rey still isn't certain what to make of what she just heard.
She turns to Ben now. "Are you really better? Or did you just ditch the sling?" She's wise to his tough guy routine. This is a guy who pounded his own wound for power in the Starkiller woods. He's no stranger to pain.
"I'm better."
She believes him. "I'm glad."
Ben's eyes dart over to the door where Darth Plagueis just exited. "It's too bad you still don't know the truth of your family."
"It's okay," she pretends. "Do you think he was lying about my mother?"
"No," Ben judges. "I think he truly doesn't know what happened. I don't think he cares either."
The topic now prompts Ben to claim, "I didn't intentionally lie to you. That bit about your parents being junk traders . . . I think that was an idea Sidious gave me. One of many," he gripes bitterly. He is rueful now and it's kind of endearing. Ben would probably be offended to know it, but he's most engaging when he's not doing his stomping, fist clenched, sword raised Kylo Ren routine. When he drops the First Order Dark Prince posturing, he becomes shockingly vulnerable. It's a juxtaposition that is as unexpected as it is intriguing. Because Rey likes to think he only does it for her.
In stilted fashion, eyes firmly averted, Ben now proceeds to tell her something she suspects he's told very few people: "I'm sorry . . . I'm sorry if I misled you or hurt you . . . "
Wow. Rey nods like that statement is no big deal. "It's okay. I am fine being Rey Nobody."
"Not Rey Skywalker?"
"You know about that?" She's instantly embarrassed.
"Plagueis told me. He was pleased. He said it was your insight peeking through."
"I had no idea I was a child of the Force until he said so. I'm still not sure I believe him."
"Believe him. It's true."
"I guess it's better than being a Palpatine," she makes a lame joke. "Anything is better than that." But still . . . she wishes she knew the truth.
Rey looks away now, blinking fast. She tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture. Talk of her missing past dredges up a lot of emotions. Confusion, disappointment, and frustration are at the forefront. But mostly, she feels an awful sense of regret for remaining on Jakku so long in vain hopes of a reunion with her family. Maybe Plagueis would say that was the Force's way to protect her anonymously, but looking back all she can see is needless anguish in poverty. And but for a lost droid in the desert, she'd probably be on Jakku today. Starving and sweating while she dreamed of better days.
"Rey."
She looks up. Ben appears as intensely sincere as she's ever seen him. It gets her attention.
"I know you want to know who your mother was. But in the end, it doesn't matter as much as you think. Because you and the Force decide who you are. Not your parents."
"Yeah . . . " she breathes out with resignation. "I think you're right."
"I know I'm right. You are a child of the Force. I don't know why I didn't see it straight away. But it explains a lot."
He's right. It does. "So, I guess this time the Force made a scavenger instead of a slave . . ."
"Was there really much difference?" Ben asks with surprising gentleness.
She sighs and bites at her lip. "In many ways, no."
Does her discouragement show? It must, for Ben takes a step forward. He's almost in her personal space now. "I'm fine for you to be Rey Skywalker," he assures her. "It suits you. And I think my family would approve. You're upholding the legacy they thought I would carry on."
Now Ben's the one who looks discouraged. Rey tries to be diplomatic as she returns the sympathy. "It must have been hard being the son of heroes."
"You have no idea. The Force chose you, but you also chose this life."
"That's true."
"I didn't choose this."
Oh, come on. "You chose Darkness—"
"Not the way you think."
She recalls Plagueis' words from earlier. "Tell me again about the night you destroyed Luke's temple."
Ben rebuffs her. "I don't want to talk about Luke."
Sure, that's what Ben says, but all he does is talk about Luke. She persists. "But—"
"I said I don't want to talk about Luke!" Ben abruptly turns on heel and half-stalks, half-limps across the room. The mutual empathy between them is over. The set of his jaw and the set of his shoulders reveal just how bothered he is. His guard is up again. It's pure Kylo Ren.
So Rey backs down. It's not because she's intimidated, but because she doesn't want to prod him into confidences. She wants his secrets freely given because they trust one another. Clearly, they're a long way from that. But today—just now—felt like a real conversation. Usually, they shout accusations and threats at one another. And then, they start swinging swords. She's probably to blame for that outcome as much as he is, she knows.
Well, after yesterday's upsetting reunion, she's attempting to keep things civil. Friendly, even. So, she volunteers, "I tried meditation last night."
He turns in surprise. "How did it go?"
"Better."
"Good."
"Can I show you?"
"Let's do it together."
He sprawls in a chair and she flops on the couch and together they separately drift in the Force for a bit. It's nice. Then Ben starts to teach her the traditional Jedi theories about the Force. He explains how the Jedi understood the Force to be an energy field created by all living things that surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the universe together. It acts in the moment, through what they called the Living Force, and it acts over time, through what the Jedi termed the Cosmic Force.
The Living Force is what she senses in the here and now. Ben explains that this is the Force that she can command when she lifts rocks and moves objects. This is the power to influence others' minds and to read others' thoughts. It is a wellspring that constantly renews itself through the cycle of birth and death. All life comes from the Living Force and, in time, returns to the Living Force, only to be born again. But in its temporal manifestation as a particular living being, the Living Force leaves a unique essence. That is a being's Force imprint. Ben describes it as akin to a mental snowflake. For Rey and other Force users, it is the memory of what a person's individual Living Force feels like. It's why Rey always knows when a friend like Finn is approaching. Her extra sensitive mind recognizes the sensation of his Force. Force users themselves naturally have bigger, bolder Force imprints.
The Cosmic Force is better understood as the hand of fate according to Ben. It acts through the ages, across generations, and throughout history. The arc of the moral universe is long, he assures her, but it bends towards balance. And so Dark times give way to the Light ultimately, and vice versa in a cycle never-ending. That is the ebb and flow of time. It meanders forward for a bit, and then it heaves and jolts during periods of rapid change that give birth to new eras. The Cosmic Force is beyond anyone's command, he warns. You don't control it, it controls you. Powerful Force users are the favorites of the Cosmic Force. It acts through them and with them to achieve its aims. So when Luke Skywalker took the one-in-a-million shot in the Death Star trench, Ben argues, that was less his own personal feat than it was the Force at work. The Force was punishing the Dark hubris that destroyed Alderaan. Push too far on either the Light Side or the Dark Side, Ben warns, and the Force will strike back. For if you tip the equilibrium of the status quo far enough, you risk provoking an equal and opposite reaction right back at you. And thus, the Force sets limits to what it will tolerate. Always remember, Ben teaches, that the Force seeks balance. It will self-correct on an ongoing basis to achieve it.
Every now and then, Ben adds, the Cosmic Force will give you a peek behind its opaque veil through a vision. Be careful with visions, he warns, for they can tempt you to tinker with destiny. That's a trap. The Cosmic Force cannot be altered by free will. Whatever will be, will be. Accept it. Give in to it. Or risk becoming an obstacle that the Cosmic Force will run over. Supposedly, there are portals into the Cosmic Force where you can step into the past and the future. Snoke told him about them, but Ben himself has never seen one.
Today's teaching is cerebral knowledge that Rey finds to be very abstract. It's a lot to wrap her head around. Frankly, she's used to thinking of the Force as a tool. As a means for tricks and sleights of hand. She discovers the skills herself or copies them from Ben. So she's a bit dubious when she asks, "Do you think those theories are correct?"
"I do. I think they explain a lot of the interaction between fate and free will. Or between the Cosmic Force and the desires of individuals," he states it differently.
Those concepts seem very much at odds to her. "Do you believe in destiny? Do you believe in the Cosmic Force?"
"Yes." He doesn't hesitate.
"How can you be sure?"
"Because destiny ruined my life."
"Oh." There's a story there, but his expression warns her not to ask. They go back to training.
It's strange talking civilly and working collaboratively with Ben while their friends and allies are killing one another lightyears away. But the Resistance and First Order priorities are not their priorities any longer. That's no fault of hers, Rey decides, since she did her best to convince everyone that Darth Sidious is still a threat. No one listened.
But Ben was there at Exogol. He understands the risk and the urgency, and he's stepping up to help again even though the first time killed them both. She respects that courage. She admires that commitment. Those qualities only serve to deepen the man's mysterious attraction. But is she also attracted to Ben's Darkness? Maybe to his danger? Or, she gulps, maybe even to his depression? He broods like she broods, she's observed. She'd be lying if she said his pensiveness didn't draw her in. There's just something familiar about this man's struggles even if they are very different from her own.
In her foolish romantic dreams before Crait, she was the young woman who reformed the wayward, fallen son. She alone saw a spark of humanity remaining within a monster past redemption. Everyone had given up on Kylo Ren except her. She coaxed him back with her good example that inspired the small flicker of good within him to burst into a blazing flame. For all Kylo Ren needed is love, she had stupidly believed. And not the love of a parent figure, but the love of a friend . . . maybe even a lover. Someone to believe in the better version of him so that he could rise to the occasion. But . . . he didn't. Her actions helped Ben kill his Master in a bid to consolidate power. It was a bold move that might have worked had Snoke not turned out to be a puppet on a throne. In the end, power was far more alluring for Ben than what she offered. He hadn't even hesitated when she asked him to spare the Resistance. Instead, he looked her in the eye and urged 'Let the past die.'
And here she is assisting with that goal. Trying to kill what remains of the old Sith religion while the Jedi way fades into history. What will replace it going forward? Plagueis and Ben want some amorphous balance idea. But she is extremely skeptical. It all strikes her as Sith-lite. So why is she doing this? She's not sure, and only half onboard. But if balance means killing Darth Sidious and pulling Ben back from the Dark Side, then those are two big wins. For part of her still wants to be the woman who coaxes Kylo Ren home to the good side . . . or at least to the middle, if that's what balance means.
Could they meet in the middle? What would that look like?
It's with that goal in mind that Rey works up her courage to ask something that has bothered her for months. "In the throne room . . . when you asked me to join you . . . what were you offering me?"
The question is a non sequitur for the Force lore Ben's teaching. It is met with a long pause.
She takes back the question, "Forget I asked—"
Just as he answers, "Everything."
"Everything . . . " she whispers. Her eyes lift to search his. Yes, it was just like she understood in the moment. "Everything . . . "
He nods and blurts out, "Anything."
"Oh." She's flustered now. Rey looks down again as she mutters, "I was never going to join you." He was supposed to join her on the good side. Not vice versa.
"Not even if I had let the Resistance go?"
She thinks a moment and decides, "No. That would have just deferred the conflict. Ben, your mother would have opposed you to the end."
"I know. But she's gone. What would you do?"
She confused. "What do you mean?"
"Would you have made peace with Supreme Leader Kylo Ren?"
Is this a question? She lifts her chin. "I'm not the surrender type."
"Not a surrender. A peace. The Republic keeps the Core and the First Order keeps the Rim."
Are they negotiating? "That would never work."
"It's what the Separatists wanted."
"You mean split the galaxy in two?"
"Yes."
Oh. That's a possibility she didn't anticipate. The dream of the New Republic has always been a unified galactic democracy. Leia Organa would never accept anything less than freedom for all systems, and Rey doubts Finn and Poe will feel any differently. Most especially Finn, given his personal experience.
She shakes her head. "Why are we even talking about this? None of this matters now."
"You brought it up."
It's true. But her eyes narrow as a sneaking suspicion dawns. "You're not thinking of going back to the First Order are you?"
To her great relief, he answers no. "What's the point? Even if I could rebuild the Order, it would always be in the shadow of Darth Sidious. I would never know who's a true loyalist for him lurking in my ranks. I would be his pawn again."
"I'm sorry for that," Rey tells him. Not because she likes the First Order, but because she appreciates the disillusionment Ben must feel. She's felt a lot of disillusionment herself lately.
He nods to acknowledge her sentiment and it actually feels like another moment of true rapport. Like when long ago they talked through the bond when she was on Ahch-To. And also like when they spoke about her parents earlier today. Rey sees glimpses of that sincere young man now and then beneath the bitterness, the posturing, and the sarcasm. It rekindles her hope. She's not sure if that's a good thing. But every time, it works.
Ben seems resigned to let his old ambitions go, and that's a huge relief. He tells her, "The only work that matters is our work. Here. Now."
He's right, but she doesn't like it. She especially doesn't like the setting. Looking around them, she grumbles, "I can't wait to get away from here. Mr. I'm-not-Snoke gives me the creeps."
"Whether we do the work here or elsewhere doesn't matter. In many ways, this is the safest place."
He has a point. If Darth Sidious hasn't flushed his old Master out by now, this place must be pretty safe. And here Ben isn't a wanted fugitive from the Resistance. Everyone will believe he's dead unless she tells them otherwise.
And, actually, that particular issue worries her a lot. Kylo Ren alive and well is big, big secret to keep. But she's going to have to keep it if they are to have any chance of defeating Darth Sidious. She knows her friends in the Resistance won't understand. She rationalizes the deception by telling herself that Kylo Ren without his armies is much less of a threat.
Moving away from the First Order is a huge step for him. Maybe he wasn't ready to be Ben Solo at Crait . . . maybe he needed to be humbled by death and defeat before he could break free from the thrall of the Dark Side . . . maybe there is still hope for him yet. Has she been too harsh on Ben? She can't shake the feeling that, at least in some ways, he is as much a victim as he is a villain. And he is willing to put aside their differences now to work towards balance . . . even if like with Plagueis, it smacks of revenge on the Sith who stole his empire.
It prompts her to share the truth of her feelings. "In the throne room, I . . ."
"Yes?"
Her heart is pounding as she admits, "I wanted to say yes."
This feels like divulging a big secret, but Ben seems unimpressed. Like he already knew. He responds by giving her a second chance. "It's an open offer."
"I don't understand." What can he offer her now?
"I can't give you an Empire. I can't bring a new order to the galaxy. All I can offer you is my knowledge and my perspective." He shrugs as he anticipates more rejection from her. "You don't really seem to want it, but you need it."
She squirms a bit. But in the interest of more honest communication, she confesses, "It's not that I don't want help. It's just . . . well, this is harder than I expected."
"Difficult things can be worth it."
"Yeah?"
"Difficult people too."
"I know." She feels her face flush as she wonders if he's talking about him or her. "So, the deal was for everything?"
"Yes."
"And your standing offer?"
"It's for everything too. Everything or anything."
"Oh."
The Force feels like it is cracking and popping around them, but maybe it's just her imagination. Because the intensity with which Ben now holds her gaze is unnerving. Suddenly shy, she looks away.
When after a moment she neither accepts nor declines, he resumes his instruction. "When we are passed all these basics, I want to teach you some defensive skills."
"I can already beat you with a sword," she reminds him.
"I'm not talking about combat. I'm talking about mental shields. Right now, any trained Force sensitive can easily skim your emotions and any strong thoughts. I can teach you to hide all that."
Rey is taken aback. "You know what I'm thinking?"
He nods. "It doesn't take much concentration to get the general gist. Back when we had the bond, I saw it all without any effort."
"You did?" she gulps. "All?"
"Yes." Looking supremely smug, Ben reveals, "In Snoke's throne room, I saw it all."
Her eyes widen and her pulse quickens. "You knew what I was thinking?"
"Yes. Your thoughts betrayed you."
"Oh." OOooooh.